We are in the midst of the end of our time in Denver. A quick trip home later this month and then we are headed out of the country. We are in the midst of planning the details but our roundtrip flights are booked out of the country. We will fly to Thailand on February 6th out of LAX after a short flight from Boise the day before. I was watching the news the other day as I did things around the house before beginning my work day when it struck me, how can the government shutdown affect travel plans? Honestly what I really said out loud as I heard the major network chattering about record number of days is “Oh no, don’t you dare think you are going to mess up my escape to the heat!” Ya, like the government girls and boys really care about lil’ ol’ me!
I am participating in a 10K Blog Challenge sponsored by a couple who rank amongst my mentors as I learn the skills to make a living from my blog. They are Pete and Heather over at it’salovelylife.com. This article is a result of my 10th day assignment which was brilliant, because this topic was on my brain!
Research led me to a few conclusions which are listed as bullet points below. If you are planning to travel during government shut down, heads up to these issues.
National Parks, Sites and Museums may be closed
Allow an extra hour before flights due to TSA sick calls. Major news reporting agencies state 3 hours prior to departure but to each his own on comfort zone. I also read that you can monitor wait times by downloading the My TSA app although I read alot of review that indicated they were not accurate due to crowdsourcing the information and receiving minimal response. TSA will not stand behind the accuracy of the wait times. Some airport websites do live updates to wait times and there’s always social media to check. As of this writing entire terminals have been closed at airports such as Bush International and Miami International
Passports and Visas could be delayed. This is due to some closure of embassy offices.
Credit Card Processing could be delayed. This is due to closure of the income verification office of the IRS.
Overall safety in flight Less TSA coverage in a concern especially if you are a worrier by nature as the odds are increased due to less coverage as sited in this article I found on Business Insider.
What if the shutdown really does create havoc in your travel plans? i.e. You made a campground reservation at a National Park that is closed but you paid with a credit card, attempt to work with the credit card company to get your money back!
Thank you for the info. Im flying this weekend and was curious about this very thing. Great timing.
Your Welcome Michelle! Safe travels my friend!